We asked 4 women to style the same little black dress - here's how they did

A.C. Fowler

Nov 19, 2016, 21:14 IST

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Each woman expressed her own unique style.

The INSIDER Summary:

We gave four women from the INSIDER office the same black dress.
In one night, each woman used that dress to express her individual personality.

The little black dress is probably the one piece that can be found in every woman's wardrobe. It's easy to wear, and can be dressed up or down for any occasion.

So we asked four of the women at INSIDER, women of different shapes and sizes, to take part in our Little Black Dress Challenge.

The rules were simple: We gave each woman the same little black dress. They had one night, beginning from the moment they left the office, to come up with an entire outfit. Finally, they were required to add at least two articles of clothing or accessories to complete the look. Outside of that, they had free reign to do whatever they wanted.

In short, they killed it.

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Meet our fearless INSIDER crew.

It all started with the little black dress we picked out. We chose a simple ribbed jersey dress from H&M. It cost $17.99. The dress is loosely fitted at the top, flairs towards the bottom, with a small cutout just above the chest.

"I don't know if I like the random v-neck in the middle of the dress, but I guess I'm just going to have to jazz it up and see if it works," Alana said after she was handed the dress.

H&M

When the women left the office, that's when the real work began. They went to clothing stores, laid out their entire closets, and even raided their roommates' closets to create the perfect look.

Caroline showed off her quirky, adorable style.

Caroline brought her quirky and sprightly spirit to her outfit. She said she didn't want to completely overshadow the dress by putting on too much, so she kept it simple by adding small flourishes that gave the look a pop of color.

She combined the dress with a red bag, a beige scarf, and knee-high black socks with white trim at the top.

A. C. Fowler

Caroline's cat hat was the final touch.

But it was her final touch that made the look stand out.

"The last touch was my cat hat. It's my favorite hat, so I think it completes the outfit," Caroline said.

Alana added accessories that were a fit for fall.

Alana decided to go with an autumn color palette because it's her favorite season of the year. From the hat to her feather necklace, her outfit was fun for fall.

A. C. Fowler

Alana paired the dress with autumnal colors, including this feather necklace.

"So when I first was asked to do this challenge, I was a little bit apprehensive because I'm probably one of the curvier girls," Alana said. "So I was pleasantly surprised that we all have a dress that's fit and flair. It's a style that compliments almost any body type."

A flourish that perhaps only the fashion forward will recognize is the way Alana matched her plum Michael Kors bag with the same shade of lipstick.

Chelsea's look was cool and casual.

Chelsea ended up searching outside of her own closet to create her perfect look. After an unsuccessful trip to Forever 21, she ended up borrowing her roommate's denim jacket, complete with festive pins, including one of enigmatic actor Shia LaBeouf.

A. C. Fowler/INSIDER

Chelsea paired the dress with a denim jacket adorned with some fun pins.

"I went for a very casual kind of look, an everyday thing, something I could just throw on and feel good about," Chelsea said.

And Emily added tights and a cardigan to keep the dress cozy.

Standing six feet tall, Emily was the tallest woman taking part in the challenge. But dressing for her height isn't anything new for her.

"So first off, I put some tights on with the dress, because otherwise it would be too short on me," Emily said.

Emily continued playing with different lengths by pairing the shorter dress with a gray, knit sweater, which Emily described as "grandmotherly," that falls just below the knee.